Monday, 15 October 2012

Votes at 16 - only in Scotland?

In exchange
for a single question in the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, the
Government has conceded that 16 and 17 year olds will be able to take part in
the poll. This is something that I wholeheartedly welcome, and hope that it
puts votes at 16 firmly back on the political-constitutional landscape.

Young
people are the future of Scotland and I think it is a good thing that they will
have the chance to express their opinions on that country’s future – regardless
of my personal opinions on the future of the United Kingdom. I would like to
see greater democratic involvement of 16 and 17 year olds in the rest of the UK
on a permanent basis.

The
arguments in favour of reducing the age of majority to 16 are well known and I
believe self-evident. If at 16 you can join the armed forces, leave school,
work and pay tax, then I think it seems entirely logical that you are old
enough to vote. Voting is not like alcohol nor is it like risky financial
investment; it does not damage your physical development or open up the
possibility of unrepayable personal debt. It makes perfect sense to me that
once you reach the age that the state no longer determines your education (or
the fact that you are still in education), that you have the right to express
your views on that state through the ballot box. It is the arguments
against it that I think are increasingly dated, and based largely on fear of
change and a patronising view of young people.

There will
obviously always be reasoned opposition to this change – just as there has been
opposition to every constitutional change that can be perceived to have social
effects because it extends the franchise. There was a time when it was deemed
perfectly common sense that only men who owned land should be able to vote, or
that women should not be able to vote. People may well ask “where do you stop?”
and suggest that allowing 16 year olds the vote could open up the possibility
of allowing 15 or 14 year olds the vote. But the answer is simple – you stop at
16, which is no more or less arbitrary than 18.

We would
not even by the pioneers that many opponents feel we would be – Germany,
Austria and Norway all have votes at 16 at state/municipal level elections, and
on the Isle of Man, in Guernsey and in Jersey 16 year old have full voting
rights – right on our doorstep. And guess what? Anarchy has not broken out in
anywhere as a result.

I
understand the opposition to lowering the voting age, but I think we need to
calmly look at it in the grand scheme of other things that well allow, expect
and trust 16 year olds to do. Young people that I meet are opinionated,
politicised and interested in the future of their country – let’s not base
their position in the constitution on the negative images of 16 year olds that
we often see in the media, and think seriously about extending the franchise.

Article by British
Youth Council

Hugo Brookes

Policy and Campaigns Officer

(Including
UK Youth Parliament and Young Mayor Network)

Supports
lowering the voting age to 16 years in all elections and referendums held for
all young people in the UK

The Votes at 16 Coalition calls on you to the debate to
support lowering the voting age for all young people in the UK for all elections
and referendums

Young people in Scotland voting in the Independence
referendum

The decision to lower the voting age in
the upcoming Scottish referendum will newly enfranchise 8.2% of the UKs 16 and
17-year olds. This is a hugely positive step towards a more inclusive and equal
political system. It must, however, only be seen as the first step. It becomes
untenable to argue that one section of the UKs 16-17year olds are deemed
capable of voting whilst at the same time arguing there is another section that
is not. As such, allowing Scottish 16 and 17-year olds to vote in the upcoming
referendum must be followed by extending this right to all young people of this
age in the UK. This is an argument supported not only by their rights but also
by public opinion; a recent poll carried out by the Telegraph found that 53% of
the population are in favour of lowering the voting age.

It would further encourage youth democratic engagement.

There is a generation of 16 and 17
year-olds emerging from the education system that are well equipped to engage
and participate in both this referendum and all further elections across the UK.
Every 16 year-old receiving school education will have completed citizenship
classes. This is recent education
about political processes and democracy. Furthermore, thousands and thousands
of 16 and 17 year-olds are already coming together to engage in direct
democracy and encourage community participation and leadership:

Over 590,000 young people voted in youth
election in the Academic Year2011/2012

85% of young people go to a school with a school
council so they can work with staff to improve their school.[1]

16 and 17 year-olds are knowledgeable
and passionate about the world in which they live and are as capable of
engaging in the democratic system as any other citizen. These are people who
are already seen as capable of voting for the leader of their respective
political parties; a right given to 15 year olds by both the Labour and
Conservative parties. Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child, to which the UK Government is a signatory, grants every child and young
person the right to express their views freely, and to have such views given
due weight in all matters affecting them. The Council of
Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has urged the Committee of Ministers to
encourage member states ‘to reconsider the age-related restrictions placed
on voting rights in order to encourage young people’s participation in
political life’.[2]

Votes at 16 will engage 16 and 17 year olds,
who hold many responsibilities in our society, to influence key decisions that
affect their lives and ensure youth issues are represented.

We
believe it is impossible to justify the automatic and blanket exclusion of 16
and 17 year olds from the right to vote because, at 16, the law allows a
person to:

give full
consent to medical treatment

leave school and
enter work or training

pay income tax
and National Insurance

obtain tax
credits and welfare benefits in their own right

consent to
sexual relationships

get married or
enter a civil partnership

change their
name by deed poll

become a
director of a company

join the armed
forces

become a member
of a trade union or a co-operative society.

Not
only are 16 and 17 year olds by law able to make complex decisions and take on
wide ranging responsibilities, they are also showing in practice that they want
to make a positive difference. Locking them out is patronising: it relies on
out-dated views about young people’s capacities.

Votes at 16 will empower 16 and 17 year olds,
through a democratic right, to influence decisions that will define their
future.

There
are over 1,530,000 16 and 17 year olds in the UK. These young people are
knowledgeable and passionate about the world in which they live, and are as
capable of engaging in the democratic system as any other citizen.

Participation
in free elections is a fundamental human right (protected in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the UK’s Human Rights Act). Because of these
laws the reasons for excluding people from the vote have to be fair and
balanced.

16
and 17 year olds would be able to raise issues that are persistently affecting
young people in their area and vote on whether the introduction of a policy
would improve their area for the better.

Other
countries have given their young people the right to vote. Currently you can
vote at 16 if you:

Live on the Isle
of Man, Jersey or Guernsey

Live in Austria

Live
in Nicaragua, Brazil or Ecuador

Live in Germany
and are voting in Länder or state elections

Live in Hungary
and meet certain criteria, for example if you are married before reaching
the age of 18 you have full adult legal rights and can therefore vote

Live in Slovenia
and are employed

Live in Norway
and are part of the 20 selected municipalities that the government has
given 16-year-olds the right to vote in the September 2011 local
elections, as part of a greater effort to get young people interested in
politics.

Votes at 16 will
inspire young people to get involved in our democracy

16
and 17 year olds today are ready to engage and participate in our democracy,
having learnt the principles in compulsory citizenship education. Through being
a local youth councillor, a member of a youth parliament or their student
union, they are already engaging in significant numbers. The next step is Votes
at 16 – a move that would empower young people to better engage in society and
influence decisions that will define their future.

The Votes at 16 coalition is made up of over 70
organisations including the British Youth Council, Funky Dragon, Children’s
Rights Alliance England, UNITE, UNISON, TUC, EIS, The Co-operative and the
National Union of Students

For further information

David
Clark,
Deputy CEO/ Head of Programmes and Policy, British Youth Council

The Labour Party

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